Nottingham Forest have no ‘hiding place’ left – and simply must get a result to match their performance levels when they face old rivals Sheffield United, says Mark Warburton.

With the international break on the horizon – and following a run of five defeats in six Championship games – the Reds boss knows Forest are under pressure to secure three points against the Blades.

Warburton admits Forest’s performance level will count for little if they suffer another defeat at the hands of Chris Wilder’s in-form United side, who have won five of their last six games, including a huge 4-2 win over Sheffield Wednesday on Sunday, which lifted them into the play-off places.

The former Brentford and Rangers manager was reluctant to draw any positives from the good football Forest played for long spells against Fulham, because the night still ended in a 3-1 defeat at the City Ground.

And, as they prepare to return to action on home turf, Warburton says his Forest side simply must find a way to secure victory, to lift the mood as they head into the international break, before the small matter of a trip to face Derby County on their return.

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“With the international break coming up, we do need to get some reward from this weekend, we really do,” said Warburton. “There is no hiding place. We have lost five out of six and that cannot happen.

“But if you lose a game of football and play really poorly, you are not at it and you are well beaten, you have to put your hands up and say ‘the opposition were better’.

“I cannot say that after this (Fulham) game. Nor could I say it after the second half at Villa. But we have to get our rewards. We have to make these moments count.

“We have to get our rewards. Yes we are creating chances, yes we went toe-to-toe with one of the best footballing sides in the division, with a young team. But we end up with absolute frustration from not getting the goals or the result.”

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Armand Traore looks dejected during the game with Fulham at the City Ground (Image: Joe Giddens/PA Wire/PA Images)

Warburton has been around long enough to understand that the result will be the only thing of any significance when the final whistle blows on Saturday evening, regardless of how well Forest have or haven’t played at that point.

“I am really wary of coming in front of the media and saying that there are any positives to take, because we have just been beaten,” said Warburton. “We need to get the right message across.

“We did create a lot of chances against a very good team. We were positive, we moved the ball and in the second half we were bright and they could not get out of their half. Joe Worrall was stepping in, Tendayi was doing the same. Mancienne was playing on his wrong side, but was doing well. I thought we did look really good.

“I was thinking that this was the rhythm we wanted in our play. We had chance, after chance, after chance and we did not take our rewards from that.”